I Believe
by Her Owlness
Summary: Chad and Whitney have been dating secretly for months now, but Chad doesn't know if he can handle the guilt any longer. Will Whitney's love for him finally convince her to tell Simone the truth? Prequel to "Angel."


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Note: Lyrics from the Blessid Union of Soul's song _I Believe._

Walk blindly to the light and reach out for his hand 

Softly, Whitney Russell crept up the stairs, just as she had done every night for the past few months. Her parents thought she was in bed. Being the good daughter, Whitney had gone to her room a few hours earlier, but now that her parents were asleep, she was going to find the man of her dreams.

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Don't ask any questions and don't try to understand 

Chad Harris opened the door before Whitney could knock. He knew that waking them up Whitney's entire family had to be avoided. Yes, Eve and TC Russell had given Whitney permission to see him months ago, but Simone Russell still believed that Whitney didn't like him—at least not like that.

But Simone knew the truth now—well, she knew part of it. Chad had made a point of it to tell her that he wasn't her boyfriend. She had been crushed, but Chad knew that he had had to tell her the truth. Whitney didn't want her sister to be hurt, so he hadn't said a word about his love for her sister.

So they were meeting each other in the dead of night. Simone was still ignorant, and Chad's guilt was multiplying with every passing day.

"Whit," Chad began. "Ain't we gonna—"

Whitney covered his mouth with her slender hand. "Don't talk, Chad. Kiss me."

Unable to resist, Chad gladly covered her lips with his.

Open up your mind and then open up your heart 

And you will see that you and me aren't very far apart 

After a heart-stopping kiss, the two paused to catch their breath. It was amazing what that man did to her. She had never believed that a man would be able to get into her heart—partially because of the high walls she had built around it. But Chad didn't need to climb the walls. He had the key to both her heart and soul.

"Whit, girl, we gotta talk about this. Ain't we gonna tell Simone about us? I hate lyin' to her."

Whitney sighed. She knew Chad was right. They should tell Simone, but she would be devastated. Her sister had lied to her time and time again. But Whitney knew that at the beginning, she wasn't lying. She was simply denying her feelings for Chad Harris.

But those feelings had grown deeper and stronger over the past few months. Now, Whitney felt like a liar and a back-stabber every time she looked at her sister.

She loved Chad and loved being with Chad, but she hated what she had done with her life. She hated the lie that her life had become.

'Cause I believe that love is the answer 

I believe that love will find the way 

Chad knew that Whitney was going to protest. She always did. And he understood how she felt, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could live with the guilt.

He had always prided himself on being an honest, upstanding man, but here he was, lying about his relationship with the woman he loved. No one knew the truth and that was how Whitney wanted it.

But Chad? He wanted to shout from the rooftops that the most wonderful woman in the world was in love with him! She had been able to look past his bad-boy past and see who he really was. Just as he had seen past the tennis star she appeared to be.

Whitney was a tennis star, Chad knew that much. But she was much, much more than a tennis star. She was loyal. Kind-hearted. Funny. And one hell of a kisser.

But to Chad, each of these things meant nothing if he couldn't tell the whole world about this wonderful woman he was in love with.

"Chad, you know I can't tell Simone. Not now, not yet. She's still in love with you!"

"Whit, I told her months ago. She's fine."

"I—I can't. I can't do it, Chad. I'd have to look her in the eye and tell her that I've been lying to her for months. I don't have the strength to see that hurt in my sister's eyes, knowing that I put it there. I just can't do it."

Chad had known she would say that. She made that same argument, night after night. And night after night, he would accept her words, positive that the day would come when Whitney would see the light and tell her sister the truth.

But days had turned to weeks, and weeks to months, and Whitney hadn't wavered in the slightest. Chad knew that there was only one thing that he could say.

"I can't live like this anymore. You tell Simone, or we're through."

They were the hardest words that Chad had ever had to say, but he meant every word. He prayed that their love would be strong enough to get through this.

Violence is spread worldwide and there are families on the street 

And we sell drugs to children now oh why can't we just see 

That all we do is eliminate our future with the things we do today 

Money is our incentive now so that makes it okay 

Whenever Whitney was around Chad, her heart always beat at twice the speed. But after what he had just said, her heart ceased to beat at all.

He couldn't mean that, could he? Would Chad really throw away what they had if she didn't tell Simone?

He couldn't—right? He wouldn't give up their relationship simply because she couldn't do that to her sister.

They had gone through so much together. Her mother had disapproved at the beginning because he came from the streets. She had thought that he wasn't good enough for her perfect daughter, but after Chad risked his life for Eve, she had come around.

Her father didn't want anyone or anything ruining her dreams of Wimbledon, but over time he came to realize just how much Chad cared for her. He knew that Chad wouldn't interfere.

"You can't be serious," Whitney pleaded. "We haven't overcome so much just to be torn apart now. Chad, please, don't do this!"

But I believe that love is the answer

I believe that love will find the way 

"Whit, do you love me?"

"Of course I do. You know that."

"Then believe in me, in our love. Our love is strong enough to make it through this. It has before, and it will now."

Chad knew that if he and Whitney both believed in their love, they could make it through anything. The question was, did she trust in their love, in him, enough to have such unwavering faith?

I believe that love is the answer 

I believe that love will find the way 

Whitney wanted to believe Chad was right. More than anything she did.

She did love him. And she believed that love was the strongest power in the world.

But what about her love for Simone? Did that love not count for anything? Simone would be crushed if she knew the truth about her relationship with Chad.

She was torn. She loved both Simone and Chad, but she loved them differently. She had loved Simone her whole life. Simone was her little sister, the one she had always watched out for.

Chad was her soul mate. At least, Whitney believed he could be. She loved him so much, and she knew that he felt the same way.

But what if he wasn't her soul mate? What if she hurt Simone over a relationship that wasn't going to last anyhow?

"Chad, I don't think I can do it. I don't have the strength to tell Simone."

I've been seeing Lisa now for a little over a year 

She said she's never been so happy but Lisa lives in fear 

That one day daddy's gonna find out she's in love 

With a black man from the streets 

Oh how he would lose it then but she's still here with me 

'Cause she believes that love will see it through 

And one day he'll understand 

And he'll see me as a person not just a black man 

Chad's heart cried out in anguish when he heard Whitney's words.

She didn't think she could tell Simone.

They had overcome her prejudiced mother and her overprotective father only to be stopped by a love-struck teenager?

He had thought that their love could see them through this, but apparently, he was wrong.

Whitney's fear was stronger than her love for him when it came down to it. If her love wasn't strong enough to tell Simone, Chad knew that they had no future. He couldn't live the rest of his life hiding the best thing that had ever happened to him from the world.

He couldn't and he wouldn't.

"You know where the door is, Whit."

'Cause I believe that love is the answer 

I believe that love will find the way 

I believe I believe I believe I believe that love is the answer 

I believe that love will find the way 

Tears sprung up in Whitney's eyes. She had spent her whole life evading love, believing that she could avoid the pain that she felt now.

But Chad Harris was in her heart to stay. She knew that now.

But she also knew that she couldn't hurt her sister.

She gave Chad a soft kiss on the cheek—a kiss of death to their relationship—and softly whispered, "Good-bye, Chad."

Slowly, she stood up and walked out the door.

Love will find the way 

Love will find the way

Chad couldn't believe it. Whitney had left him.

The one thing that had made him look forward to each day was gone. His life would never be the same. He had thought love would be enough, but it wasn't. Not this time.

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Love will find the way 

Love will find the way

Whitney collapsed onto the couch in the living room. What was she going to do?

She couldn't lose Chad. She loved him too much to let him go. He was her lifeline, the one person in the world that she would trust with her life.

  
But she couldn't hurt her sister either. Simone meant so much to her, and she knew how much Simone had loved Chad. It would kill her to know that Chad had picked her older sister over herself.

Sighing loudly, Whitney stood up and headed up the stairs. Softly she knocked on the door. There was only one thing that she could do, and if she didn't do it then, she would lose her courage.

A soft moan came from inside the room. "What do you want?"

"I have something I need to tell you," Whitney said softly as she opened the door.

"It's late, Whitney. What is it?"

"I'm in love with Chad."

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Love will find the way

Love will find the way

Love will find the way

I guess love just found the way.

The End!


End file.
